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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28879107">what the red mist left behind [placeholder title]</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingcorset/pseuds/binahs-left-earring'>binahs-left-earring (kingcorset)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Lobotomy Corporation (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ayin is the only cishet person here, Hod needs therapy, Multi, Netzach and Hod are best friends, Netzach-centric, Yesod is a short and angy little man, baby's first (attempt at a) slowburn, nothing says friendship like sharing a drug induced hallucination, so does Netzach, so does literally everyone here, the Gebura/Hod is mostly implied, the other sefirot are here they're just mentioned, when they get a big enough role here i'll put their character tag in</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:40:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,799</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28879107</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingcorset/pseuds/binahs-left-earring</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The manager decided that letting absolutely everyone die thanks to the Shelter was not just hilarious, but a clever idea to deal with The Red Mist, due to her weakness to abnormality attacks. The rest of the facility must deal with the repercussions. </p>
<p>(Featuring: bonding over internalizing guilt over dead employees, a pet succulent, abnormality-themed PJs, and maybe a little bit of Yesod and Netzach falling for each other, but shhh, don't tell anyone, Netzach SWEARS they were wearing socks. It's not gay if you're wearing socks. Usually.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gebura/Hod (Lobotomy Corporation), Netzach/Yesod (Lobotomy Corporation)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. survival grade: F</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>i guess the spoilers warning is self-explanatory? this takes place after Gebura goes apeshit, so spoilers for everything before that. </p>
<p>i saw a video about someone sticking one person in the Shelter from the 27th of March and letting EVERY abnormality go HAM on The Red Mist, and... well, the sefirot that care deeply about employee deaths must not be the best at dealing with that. </p>
<p>another big note: the player gets stuck on Hokma's suppression in this fic, and that's my reason for if it goes on past fifty days.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>Oh, for fuck's sake, not </em>today.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Netzach hated these days, when the manager decided to actively lead employees to their deaths. He was in no position to stop any of this - the Shelter is under the watch of the Information Team, and Angela was too busy focusing all resources onto the Disciplinary Team and The Red Mist to listen to his pleas of “put some effort into keeping my employees alive”. On a good day, Angela would give him a piece of paperwork for him to sign that would bind the manager to some contract they’d completely ignore. On a bad day, Angela would call him weak. Weak like Hod, <em> weaker </em> even. He couldn’t stand when they insulted her - <em> she was just trying her best, </em> she’s the only other one here who cares about her employees at <em> all </em>. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He watched over the many screens in his office, showing cameras laid out around the facility. He watched over the camera Zeta-54 managed to put up in the Shelter From the 27th of March, a dangerous endeavor - when Zeta-54 had finished, seven clerks and one agent were dead, and 1.76 MHz and The Heroic Monk had broken loose. Now, it just… sat there, eight deaths already under its belt. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>One employee sat in the Shelter, on top of a large crate. They had found a deck of cards inside the crate, all labeled ‘P’ after the company that made them, and were playing klondike without a care in the world. It’s what the Shelter did. It kept its inside safe. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He watched as one camera’s screen went completely static, and two employees behind it screamed. <em> 1.76 MHz is out again, isn’t it. </em> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>And that’s what else the shelter did. To ensure it was the safest place on Earth, it ruined everything outside of it once someone entered. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>As the employee stayed inside the shelter longer and longer, more and more of the facility’s abnormalities escaped, and Netzach pulled on his hair and scratched at his scalp harder and harder, <em> furious </em> about the careless employee deaths and how the manager <em> refused </em> to listen as he kept informing them of every employee panic, and soon every employee death. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The Training Team was first to be wiped out. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hod would be <em> heartbroken, </em> as she always was when one of her employees died. He’d turn to him for help, since he was the only one who would listen. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He’d have to think of a coping mechanism that wasn’t Enkephalin-related. The last thing Hod needed was more hallucinations.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He watched the screens connected to his department with empty eyes. As the employee death report blipped on screen, and then the notification that his entire department was down, he recorded a quick “Manager, Employee Maxwell has perished” and “Manager, the Security Team is out of commission” before he searched his office for something to take his mind off this mess. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The succulent - <em> fuck, I forgot to mist it, </em>he thought, rushing to fill the empty spray bottle at his desk with water. Chesed had advised him that maybe taking care of something would help him care more about others, more about himself, even. The succulent made sure he actually had breakfast some days, so it must be working in some way. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He gave Nicholas, as he had affectionately named it, a good misting, and then noticed the set of vividly colored nail polish at his desk. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><em> Is it safe for me to paint Nicholas’s nails? </em> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>After a quick search over whether he could paint a few of Nicholas’s smaller leaflike structures without damaging him too badly, he determined that painting just a few of Nicholas’s “nails” was safe. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He had chosen a bright purple nail polish for Nicholas and himself, and he had painted his nails and was starting to paint Nicholas’s when he heard a knock on the door. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Netzach!” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Yesod barked at him from behind the door - judging by the tone of his voice, he already expected Netzach to be high off his mind forgetting about the many employee deaths today. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hold on - I’ll get the door, you don’t need to kick it open.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Yesod was certainly surprised to see Netzach actually answer the door, let alone for him to not be high off his ass. He had to actually look <em> up </em> to look Netzach in the eye here - despite his… substandard height, and how stupidly tall Netzach was, most of the time Yesod was looking at Netzach, Netzach was sprawled out on the couch. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Is me showing up to the door without injecting the whole day <em> that </em> surprising?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“...yes. Your tie is undone, by the way.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t wanna bother with that.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, did you see how many employees died? If Angela <em> doesn’t </em> call a meeting, I’ll actually order something from your beer vending machine.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’ll just not show up.” Netzach shrugged. “I don’t need to be reminded of the shitty decisions the manager makes.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You can’t just stay away from the Enkephalin for a full day and <em> not </em> show up to the meeting. Here, let me fix this…” He grabbed Netzach’s tie, which was still hanging undone around his neck, and began tying it with practiced hands. Netzach held up his hands in surrender, careful not to hit his freshly painted nails against the doorway, as Yesod tied the tie into the same Windsor knot he always used.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You actually show up to the meeting today. No telling Angela you’re too high.” Yesod poked Netzach in the chest. “Got it?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“If there is a meeting. And if there isn’t, you owe me ten bucks.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“<em>Deal. </em>” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Now, uh…” Netzach pointed to the right - the direction of the Information Team. “Don’t you have a single employee to monitor?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Despite knowing full well they were in the Shelter and would stay in the Shelter for the entire day, Yesod’s eyes widened. “Oh, <em> fuck.</em>” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He was off before Netzach could say “careful, the floor might glitch out”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Ever the rule-follower, </em> <em>huh.</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. the next employee batch</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's the next day.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>netzach and hod bonding netzach and hod bonding</p><p>might just make em qpps later when they finally get to rest from whatever hell the manager cooked up yesterday</p><p>more yesod will come soon i swear</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>Angela didn’t call a meeting that day. </p><p> </p><p>Something about the manager being “too busy hysterically laughing” to actually bother to schedule a meeting in the first place, plus, with <em> every escapable abnormality </em> having escaped yesterday at some point, priorities were moreso on training the entirely new batch of employees - Maxim probably had one <em> hell </em> of a schedule - than they were on sefirot meetings. Nearly every employee in the department was new that day - the one exception being Maxim, the singular survivor of yesterday, who had to teach all of the newcomers all that they possibly could. Today was certainly a shocking change for them - from hanging out in the Shelter for so long yesterday to having absolutely no break today. </p><p> </p><p>Today, Enkephalin goals were not at all the top priority - they just needed more employees, ready to go as quickly as possible. Netzach had a day off today. The other sephirah did too, but for now, Netzach was mostly thinking about Netzach. </p><p> </p><p>He decided to check in on Hod - <em> she must be a mess, </em> he thought, <em> with her department being first to go. </em> She… definitely wasn’t the best at dealing with employee deaths, to say the least. While most of the Sephirah were no Hokma in terms of brushing off the death of employees who didn’t know what they’d be handling, she tended to internalize every employee death. Not just her own, but every department, since, after all, she was sephirah of the Training Team, she always told herself if she had just trained that employee just a little longer, gave them just a little more instructions or Enkephalin, she could’ve fixed all this. It was… well, it was sad, and Netzach could relate to her feelings a lot more often than he’d like to admit. </p><p> </p><p>He carefully knocked on her door. </p><p> </p><p>“Hold- hold on, I’m a bit of a mess right now.” </p><p> </p><p>“Hey, I’m a lot of a mess right now. And I’m not gonna rat you out to Angela for taking more prescription Enkephalin than your employees need, if that's what you're worried about.” </p><p> </p><p>“Oh, Netzach! I- just stay out there, please, for a minute, I’ll get the door when I’m ready.” </p><p> </p><p>“Uh… alright.” </p><p> </p><p>He ran a hand through his long green hair as he waited, unable to hear whatever Hod was doing behind the door. The little ‘on break’ doorknob card was hanging from her door - he’d forgotten those were a thing, considering most of the time the sefirot would disturb him anyway. He used one finger to gently pat the cartoony image of a sleeping Big Bird printed on the doorknob card. The abnormalities could be adorable, sometimes. He didn’t really know how fucked in the head someone had to be to say that, but, well, some of them just looked very sweet. </p><p> </p><p>She opened her door. She wore a large T-shirt - judging by the dark red color and the blue ‘G’ on the sleeve, one of Gebura’s - and pajama pants that were pale blue and patterned with little sharks and rainbows. Her face was red and her eyes were puffy, but she wiped at her eyes and let him enter nonetheless. </p><p> </p><p>“It’s, um… a bit of a mess in here, sorry…” </p><p> </p><p>There wasn’t much difference from how her office usually was - a small case of Enkephalin drinks, labeled ‘Lime Enkephalot’, rested on the desk, and a box of tissues and a blanket lay on the couch, but it was still mostly in order. </p><p> </p><p>“‘S fine. You, uh… you okay?” </p><p> </p><p>“No- I mean, I- yesterday was… you know.” </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah. I know.” </p><p> </p><p>Silence. Neither of them were good at taking that many employee deaths well. </p><p> </p><p>“Do you… are the headaches bad?” </p><p> </p><p>“Don’t have any.” Netzach knocked his fist against the side of his head. “He’s doing a-okay right now in there.” </p><p> </p><p>“Oh! Uh… that’s nice.” Hod wiped at her eyes again. “You… might want to change out of that suit, since we finally get a day off. You get to wear pajamas around the office without Yesod yelling at you.” </p><p> </p><p>He looked down at himself. Apparently, he did not change before he flopped onto his couch and went down a mental spiral that ended in somehow not crying and instead just flat-out passing out. </p><p> </p><p>“Shit, you’re right.” </p><p> </p><p>“You don’t have to leave right now- I… yesterday-” </p><p> </p><p>“...do you want a hug?” </p><p> </p><p>"Y- yeah..."</p><p> </p><p>She nodded, almost ashamed of herself, and buried her face in Netzach’s chest. Physical contact, let alone <em> comforting </em> physical contact, was a luxury here, but Hod needed it right now, especially with Gebura out of commission for a few days. Her android body was more badly damaged than any of the others’ bodies had been during the Meltdowns - even Netzach, with all the Enkephalin messing with his system, was better off than whatever mangled mess Gebura had been turned into. She’d received damage from just about every abnormality in the facility - Nothing There, Mountain of Smiling Bodies, The Dreaming Current, [CENSORED], All-Around Helper, the list went on. </p><p> </p><p>Hod wasn’t okay. None of this facility was okay, frankly. It was all spiraling towards some inevitable failure. He could feel it in his sad metal bones. </p><p> </p><p>She let go of him, and reached to go grab an Enkephalot. </p><p> </p><p>Netzach grabbed one, too.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. take a break, yesod!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Netzach decides to check in on Yesod. He still owes him ten bucks, after all.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>back to our boy yessy. netzach would wear enemy of the state booty shorts and it took all my willpower not to just give them to him here.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Netzach was back in his office. </p><p> </p><p>After a run to the cafeteria to grab as many cookies as possible, he dropped some off in Hod's office, and then headed back to his to change. Abnormality-based casual clothes were becoming more popular among employees - at least before the new batch of employees entered, he didn't know if they'd like those - and Hod found a set of Nothing-There-themed pajamas in his size. He'd requested Nothing There, since there was "nothing up there in his brain", and she actually <em> laughed. </em> The shirt was a little short, but the pants were long and comfy. </p><p> </p><p>Gebura was… not much could be said, but Angela said this one wouldn’t be scrapped. Scrapping Gebura would result in the next Gebura being completely unable to do her job, thanks to the source Gebura being unable to fully physically recover. This let her keep her memories with Hod, and gave Hod solace that Gebura wouldn't be dead, but… well, it takes a lot of work to repair a sefirot from "pile of metal mishmash” to “fully functioning box-human”. </p><p> </p><p>He took a big bite out of one of his many cookie prizes. It wasn't warm, but it was plenty chewy and plenty chocolatey. Eating something, in clothes that weren't an uncomfy suit, with no Enkephalin withdrawal thanks to the Enkephalot… today was actually kinda nice. </p><p> </p><p>He heard footsteps. Most likely Malkuth - she often walked around the facility when she was bored. </p><p> </p><p><em> ...how's Yesod doing? Either he's got too much to do, with Maxim, or he's probably going mad in there. </em> </p><p> </p><p>He looked down at himself, and his very not-workday-dress-code PJs. </p><p> </p><p>Fuck it. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> I'm gonna check in on that bastard. He still owes me ten bucks, anyway.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>He pushed himself up off the couch, setting his can of Enkephalot to the side after taking a long sip from it. The cookie in his hand was finished off quickly. He ran a hand through his hair - it never grew greasy, thanks to him being an android, so it was always nice to run his hands through, play with, chew on. </p><p> </p><p>He made his way to Yesod's office barefoot. The metal floor was cool against his feet, and the hallways were surprisingly empty. Usually, there were at least a few clerks roaming the place, but, well, yesterday was a massacre, and Angela was still finding new clerks to help out. </p><p> </p><p>The transition from the Security Team to the Information Team was jarring - from the vivid greens behind the inter-department transition door to the muted purples beyond it. There weren’t any clerks roaming around still, and there wasn’t much work going on - the employee records were Hokma’s duty, not Yesod’s - but the door to Yesod’s office had the little ‘available’ doorknob card rather than the ‘away’ card, so he must be in there. </p><p> </p><p>He knocked on the door. </p><p> </p><p>“If it’s Malkuth, I ate lunch, I’m fine.” </p><p> </p><p>“‘S not Malkuth.” </p><p> </p><p>“...Netzach? What the hell are you doing here?” </p><p> </p><p>Netzach didn’t wait for Yesod to open the door, just walked right in. “You owe me ten bucks.” </p><p> </p><p>Yesod’s office was littered with papers, a stack of new employee forms that all appeared to be signed… well, most of them. His desk was as clean and dust-collecting as ever, and he was signing the forms on the primary information table. A case of bottled water sat on top of the office’s mini-fridge, two bottles having been consumed, but no empty bottles in sight. <em> Probably empties his wastebasket twice a day, knowing him. </em> </p><p> </p><p>Yesod was currently focusing on one of the many papers with the concentration of a lion stalking its prey, and didn’t look up when hearing Netzach’s voice. </p><p> </p><p>“...oh, <em> that. </em> Somehow every bet you’ve made against me results in you winning.” </p><p> </p><p>“Call it the Enkephalin giving me visions of the future.” He waved his hands around at ‘visions of the future’, but it was looking less dramatic and more like he was trying to swat a fly. </p><p> </p><p>“Maybe it is,” Yesod muttered, pulling his fund-pad out of his pocket, “but I’m not gonna disobey company rules just to win five dollars from you.” </p><p> </p><p>Netzach flopped down onto one of the floaty chairs in Yesod’s office. It bounced a little, but didn’t hit the ground, keeping at its usual height. “I’unno, it’s certainly worked out for me before.” </p><p> </p><p>Yesod finally looked up at Netzach. “You’re out of company dress code.” </p><p> </p><p>“On break.” </p><p> </p><p>“I-” </p><p> </p><p>“If you bet me that this is against on-break rules, I’ll win another ten bucks~” </p><p> </p><p>Yesod sighed. Netzach and his Nothing There crop top won this one for now. </p><p> </p><p>Netzach tilted his head to the side, brushing away the hair that fell in his face. “Why’re you still in a suit, anyway?” </p><p> </p><p>“I like it this way.” </p><p> </p><p>“Oh, c’mon, not even Hokma’s that strict about dress code whatever-the-fuck.” </p><p> </p><p>“Well, he should be.” </p><p> </p><p>“At least take the suit jacket off, or <em> something. </em>” </p><p> </p><p>“You have your ten bucks. Isn’t that all you came here for?” </p><p> </p><p>Netzach looked off at one of the screens on the wall, enamored with the text that scrolled down it. “...I’unno. I guess I was kinda worried about you. Y’know, with yesterday, and all that.” </p><p> </p><p>“I don’t think anyone took yesterday well. Go see Hod, or someone like that.” </p><p> </p><p>“Already did, so you’re next on the list.” </p><p> </p><p>Yesod flicked his hair out of his face. “Just leave. You have your money, and your dress code violation-” </p><p> </p><p>“Not a dress code violation.” </p><p> </p><p>“Whatever in this hell world those abnormality PJs would be classified as. Now leave. Please.” </p><p> </p><p>The last thing Netzach expected was Yesod with <em> manners. </em> He promptly pushed himself up from his floaty seat and left. </p><p> </p><p>Within an hour Yesod was sleeping on his desk, shortly after perfecting the look of his signature on one of the employee forms.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>go follow megatronsmikubinder on tumblr i guess. don't ask about the url or how it was somehow not taken before i found it</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. nothing says friendship like sharing enkephalin</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hod is troubled.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>and king, the author, attempts to figure out how enkephalin would work. </p><p>in the end i went with "it's lobotomy corporation, they'd probably be packaged in individual doses and very easy to activate, kinda like epipens". </p><p>been on a bit of a creative block but here's a new chapter for you lobocorp vultures </p><p>cw for drug use. the chapter revolves around it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“Netzach… Could I have some of your Enkephalin?” </p><p> </p><p>“Don’t you prescribe it to me? Can’t you just, I’unno, take it?” </p><p> </p><p>Hod looked almost ashamed of herself. “I didn’t want to be mean…” </p><p> </p><p>“‘S fine. You can just refill my prescription early. C’mon in.” </p><p> </p><p>She carefully stepped foot into Netzach’s room, as if the floor was covered in picture frames. She was still in Gebura’s shirt and the Dreaming Current pajama pants, but she’d put on a hoodie, a red one with a pattern of Nothing There's large blue eyes on it.</p><p> </p><p>“Y’know there’s probably still gonna be hallucinations for you, right?” </p><p> </p><p>“I thought you said it was just the first time.” </p><p> </p><p>“Ah, it could be the second time, too. Or the third, or the fourth. After four times you’re usually good to go.” </p><p> </p><p>“O- okay.” She sat down on Netzach’s couch, and then heard a little chime come from her internal messaging system. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> daily reminder that you’re a good person with a good heart, even if you get high in the office of the head of the Security Team </em>
</p><p> </p><p>She smiled. Gebura would send these messages every day, and Netzach was filling the void that an out-of-commission Gebura had left. </p><p> </p><p>Netzach pulled the Enkephalin out of what he labeled his ‘medicine cabinet’, which every Sephirah knew meant where Netzach stored his Enkephalin. It came in single-dose containers, each about the size of one of Netzach’s long, thin fingers. Twenty-two single-dose Enkephalin containers clinked around in the carton, with eight Enkephalin containers missing. </p><p> </p><p>“Four’s usually what it takes for me, but I think you’ll only need two.” He set the box down on the cluttered coffee table that sat in front of his couch, and Hod nervously took two Netzach-sized Enkephalin doses from the box. </p><p> </p><p>“Remember, roll up your sleeve, and then right in your upper arm, next to the bluish line.” Netzach pushed the sleeve of his T-shirt up, pressed the little single-dose cylinder against his skin, and pressed the ejection button resting on the top of the container. A light hiss was heard as the pressure inside the container was released and its contents rushed into Netzach’s pseudo-bloodstream. </p><p> </p><p>“Why’d they even give us that one vein if we didn’t need them?” Hod pressed the cylinder up against her upper arm, ready to squeeze. It helped if she was talking, so she wasn’t thinking about the action, and how terrible she felt about resorting to it. </p><p> </p><p>“Well, looks like we do need ‘em. For Enkephalin. Probably other injection shit, I’unno. They stick the un-viruses in there.” Netzach reached for another cylinder and readied himself to inject it, a motion he’d done hundreds of times. “Scientists gotta mark the shit, I guess.” </p><p> </p><p>“If we really wanted to know, we could ask Hokma.” She pressed the ejection button, holding the cylinder tightly. </p><p> </p><p>“Or Yesod. Which one’s got the fuckin’... sefirot records? Yesod’s got abnos an’ Hokma’s got humans.” </p><p> </p><p>“We were humans once, weren’t we?” </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, guess you’re right… though sometimes, I kinda feel like maybe I’m an abno.” </p><p> </p><p>Hod almost laughed at the absurdity of the thought, but… she couldn’t deny that sometimes she felt like she was an abnormality herself, too. So all she did was ask, “Which one?” </p><p> </p><p>Netzach let the third cylinder, now depleted, fall from his arm. There was a neat little vertical row of three pinpricks, next to the neat little row of three more pinpricks from two days ago that were still fully regenerating their artificial skin replacements. </p><p> </p><p>“Take a wild fuckin’ guess.” </p><p> </p><p>Hod stared at the tiny, identical wounds for a long while, before asking “Do you think I’m an abnormality sometimes?” </p><p> </p><p>Netzach laughed, leaning back on the couch. “Yeah. Sometimes. But, like, in a symbolic and cool way, not in a bad way. Like, Angela is the Shelter, y’know, the Shelter from the 27th, because she gets to sit up there in the nicest place in the facility and then make it hell for everyone else in Lobotomy. And Malkuth is Little Helper because she keeps everything in order and thinks that she’s doing a good job when she hears screaming.” </p><p> </p><p>Hod giggled. “Chesed’s Old Lady because he’s lonely and wears a cravat.” </p><p> </p><p>“Tiphy A’s Melting Love because she’s just a big nuisance.” </p><p> </p><p>“Gebura’s Nothing There because she always tells me she loves me.” </p><p> </p><p>Netzach snickered, spreading his arms out across the back of the couch. “Don’t tell her that, I think she’ll try to suppress herself.” </p><p> </p><p>“Don’t insult her,” Hod said, through laughter, clearly finding this very funny. </p><p> </p><p>“But, uh… if you wanna know what abno I think you are, you kinda have Big Bird vibes. Like, you give up way too much, trying to help everyone as best you can. And sometimes it doesn’t have the biggest payout.” He tap-tap-taps his fingers against the back of the couch. “And you give good hugs.” </p><p> </p><p>“Don’t hug Big Bird, I think it’ll try to chomp your head right off.” </p><p> </p><p>“I wanna hug it someday.” Netzach spread his arms out as if going in for a hug. “Biggol birdie. He’s gotta be soft. Maybe like a penguin.”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s gonna be squishy. No feathers.” </p><p> </p><p>“Ooo, big bird stressball.” Netzach made a squeezing motion with his hand. He felt a thought creep in. <em> No, I don’t want thoughts, I’m not The Judgement Bird, always thinking everything around me is wrong just so I don’t have to find the right in things. </em> Another Enkephalin cylinder. </p><p> </p><p>“He can’t fly, so he just bounces, like a crow, bounce bounce bounce.” Hod bounced her hand along the air.</p><p> </p><p>The next thing Netzach remembered was looking at purple office walls.</p><p> </p><p><em> ...Yesod? </em> </p><p> </p><p>He rubbed at his eyes, groaning at the headache that throbbed in the back of his head. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Yessy better explain this shit. </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>unrelated but i feel like if this chapter were to be found in the future by an english teacher they'd analyze it absurdly seriously</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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